Phoenix Feather Chronicles: Saving Scorpius
by Potter-Lotr Freakout
Summary: Lily Potter thought that she would have a normal life, but that changes when a phoenix breed thought to be extinct chooses her as its master, and the Sorting Hat claims that she doesn't belong in any House. Along with Bo (OC) and his phoenix, she discovers her true heritage, and embarks on a journey to find her real family and find a new home for Scorpius Malfoy.
1. The Boy in the Book Shop

Chapter One: The Boy in the Bookshop

Lily Potter was practically bouncing up and down as she waited for her turn to Floo into the Leaky Cauldron. James seemed to take up hours by himself, and Albus days. Each of them took a handful of shimmering, black-green powder from the old flowerpot beside the fireplace and stepped into the grate, raising their clenched fists high and shouting "The Leaky Cauldron!" before dropping the powder and disappearing among the emerald flames, whisked away to the rickety old pub that guarded the entrance to the one place Lily had been that never ceased to amaze her – Diagon Alley.

"Your turn, Lily," Ginny said, ushering her daughter forward. Lily was so amazed that she was finally, finally, at long, _long_ last going to get her school robes, books, and even her own pet to bring with her to Hogwarts that Ginny had to drop the Floo powder into her slack hand and curl her fingers around it, and then Harry had to pick up the eleven-year-old and set her in the fireplace.

Lily suddenly came alive as the sooty walls of the fireplace surrounded her. "The Leaky Cauldron!" she shouted, thrills shooting through her body as she started to spin. She tucked her elbows in when she felt one of them nick a rough stone, and, after a short ride that seemed very long, she was spat out onto the blackened rug in the Leaky Cauldron, just a few feet away from the fireplace.

As Lily stood up and dusted soot off of her jeans and t-shirt, the fire suddenly flared green and Ginny stepped out of it. Mere seconds later, Harry appeared in the same manner. James and Albus were quickly found in the corner, Albus with a large bruise on his forehead.

"Albus. Severus. Potter." Ginny began dangerously, "What. Did. You. _Do?!_"

Albus didn't reply. He just sat there and hoped that his mother wouldn't murder him if she didn't know… and then dear old James stepped in.

"He insulted this big, ginormous, colossal foreign wizard! He used so many rude words that I lost count, and then punched 'im! They started fighting, and he chased 'im off, but he has that big old bruise to show for it!"

"Mum, Mum, no, I-I d-d-didn't start a fight! James is confusing when he talks! All I did was bump into a wizard – I-I'm not even sure h-he was f-foreign – and he got angry, it was him that used to bad words, then he punched me when I tried to walk away, and I ran off and I just had a bruise from the one time he hit me! I didn't fight!" Albus stammered, pure alarm evident on his face, and shining through his thick-lensed glasses from his unnaturally bright green eyes, dragging panicked breaths into his lungs as he waited for his mother's response. He barely managed to hold back a scowl when he saw that Harry and Lily were laughing behind Ginny's back and well out of arm's reach, acting out Albus being punched by the older wizard for a group of confused but entertained witches and wizards.

"And what if I don't believe you?" Ginny asked, raising her eyebrows. Albus looked as if he could have fainted then and there, his face as white as a sheet, hands trembling and beads of sweat popping up on his forehead.

"Yeah and what if she doesn't believe you?" Lily asked, popping up suddenly beside her mother. The two could have been twins: red hair, brown eyes, freckles, abnormal height and the ability to scare the crap out of any living being.

Ginny sighed, shaking her head slowly. "Lily, just go and start shopping with your father. Albus still needs to explain that bruise, and I want a _little _more information about that fight from James…"

Lily grinned and dashed across the room, grabbing Harry by the wrist and tugging him relentlessly towards the door. Darrel, the current landlord of the Leaky Cauldron, laughed his head off at the sight of the small girl straining against the weight of her father, leaning so far forward as she pressed on that, if Harry were to suddenly step forward, the girl would drop to the floor.

Eventually, Lily _did_ get to the door, and then she abandoned Harry in favor of running wildly down the street, peering into each and every shop. She nearly tripped over her own feet as she caught sight of several gem-colored, cat-sized dragons sitting on an iron rod over a new shop that had opened just months ago: _Eugene's Undersized Oddities_. There were all manners of usually large animals sitting inside the shop. A trio of three-foot-tall thestrals was curled up in the window, with a five-inch, bronze-feathered griffin pacing restlessly in a spacious cage nearby. A neon sign in the window loudly proclaimed, _**Hippogriff foals for sale! One-hundred galleons each!**_ Lily stopped and stood on her tip-toes, and, sure enough, at least ten Hippogriffs of varying colors stood in a paddock behind the shop, just visible through the glass windows.

Then she was off again. Brightly colored windmills spun in front of a decoration shop. Witches complained of the price of potion ingredients just across the street. A new broom – the _Jetstream_ – sat in the window of a Quidditch shop. Lily made up her mind as to where she was going before she was even hallway there.

The crowd, of course, was an obstacle. They cluttered most doorways, clogged the alley as they grouped together and refused to move as they exchanged useless gossip. Lily ducked and wove through the tightly knitted crowd, only occasionally being whacked with a book and called an "Impatient, out-of-control hooligan!" The only things Lily thought in those moments were: _Wow, you're lucky Mum didn't hear that_ and _Just you wait until I get my wand… you won't know what hit you!_

After at least ten minutes of dodging books, twenty-three minutes of maneuvering through the crowd, and fifteen minutes wondering where the heck her father was, Lily arrived at her destination: _Ollivander's Wand Shop_. She walked through the door and heard a bell ring from somewhere in the shop. She sat in a chair that showed clear signs of being hastily mended (Duct tape, really? A wizard used _duct tape _to repair a chair?) and tapped the armrest as she stared into the dim light that filtered through the curtains. She became so completely at ease with the smell of old wood flooding her senses that she nearly jumped out of her skin when a soft voice spoke from behind the counter.

"Up here, Miss Potter, up here… now, right or left? Oh, that was a silly question! Right, of course… Harry is right-handed, as are Ginny, James, and Albus… hold out your right arm, Miss Potter…"

Lily shot up from the chair, both she and Ollivander wincing as the duct tape gave way and the chair collapsed. She hurried to the counter and held out her arm, as the old wand maker had said, and a measuring tape almost immediately sprung up from a nearby table and began taking measurements so quickly that Lily wasn't sure what all it measured.

After just thirty seconds of this, Ollivander scurried back into the room, as he'd left while Lily was trying to keep up with the measuring tape, and he held a large collection of wand cases. He arranged them on the counter and produced the first wand, holding it out to Lily.

"Beech, nine-and-a-half inches, unicorn hair core." The wand had barely brushed Lily's hand before it was yanked back. Ollivander had another wand out before she could blink.

"Pine, eleven-and-a-quarter inches, dragon heartstring core." The wand felt so hostile in Lily's hand that she threw it across the room. Ollivander had laughed hard at that before handing Lily a third wand.

"Maple, ten-and-a-half inches, dragon heartstring core." This wand felt right, but Ollivander was quick to snatch it back.

Another wand. "Birch, eight-and-a-third inches, phoenix feather core." No.

Next…"Cherry, ten-and-five-sixths inches, phoenix feather core." Still no.

"Ha-ha! Tricky customer, eh?" Maybe… no. _Ollivander_ was the tricky one.

And then, finally, "Aspen, twelve-and-two-thirds inches, unicorn hair core." Lily grasped the wand. It thrummed under her fingers, coming alive with magic. Lily felt as if she'd found a piece of herself she hadn't been aware she was missing.

"Goodbye!" Ollivander said cheerfully. Lily shrugged, and, pocketing her new wand, walked out of the door and back into the chaotic alley. She repeated her process of travelling without moving unbearably slow (duck, weave, dodge,) and eventually made it to her second destination at the end of the alley: _Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions_.

She dashed through the door, relieved to find that the store was empty. Crowds made Lily exceedingly claustrophobic when she was around them for long periods of time. Madame Malkin stood at a counter off to one side of the doorway.

"Hello, miss," she said warmly, "Hogwarts, I think?"

"Yes, ma'am," Lily replied.

"This way, then!"

Madame Malkin led Lily into the back of the shop and pulled a stool from under a table littered with fabric. Lily climbed on top of it without a word and stretched out her arms as Madame Malkin began taking measurements, and then, after several minutes, she turned and started cutting pitch-black clock. Lily was honestly getting a little sore by this time, but she got the feeling that she wasn't allowed to move or stretch, or in any way relieve her muscles. As she waited she noticed that Harry had walked into the shop, looking very tired and beat-up. He rubbed his forehead with one hand and slumped into a chair as he waited for Lily to emerge.

Lily bit back a cry as her muscles began screaming to be relieved. Thankfully, magic needles and scissors worked very quickly, and Lily was free to go after just thirty seconds. Thirty seconds of extreme torture for her arms. She jumped off of the stool and limped back to the front of the shop, trying to regain feeling in her left leg.

She walked outside and waited, massaging her abused muscles as Harry paid for the robes. After a few seconds, a new thought burst into her head: why couldn't she go ahead and get her books? Harry would be there soon enough to pay for them. She took off at a sprint down the now nearly deserted alley, slowing to a jog and finally a walk as she approached _Flourish and Blott's_. The newest "Flourish and Blott" stood side-by-side behind a cluttered table. Jean Flourish and Gregory Blott never left the store unattended. Lily walked past them to the first-years' section and started pulling textbooks off the shelves. She grunted under the weight of her new potions book, which nearly caused her to topple over. She set the collection of books down on the nearest table and plopped into a soft armchair to wait.

After a time, Lily became bored and started to talk to anyone who passed by. Most of them kept walking, thinking that the eleven-year-old had gone mad, especially because of her topics: "Do you like dragons?", "Do colors really exist?" and "Oh, no, your robes are on fire! Oh… they're just red? Sorry…"

Lily had just chased off a few fifth years by asking them if they knew the alphabet in Ancient Runes when a boy with platinum blond hair walked past.

"Hi," she greeted loudly, but the boy didn't even turn around. She got up and followed him. "Hello? Can you speak?"

"Yes." The boy replied in a flat, emotionless voice. He sounded bored and a little bit like a…

"Are you a robot?" Lily asked.

"…What's a robot?" there was a note of interest in the boy's tone now.

"Something Muggles use." Lily answered. There was a slight pause. "Are you going to Hogwarts?"

"Yes." The boy was back to bored-robot mode.

"Which House do you think you'll be in?"

"Slytherin…" the boy sighed, taking a transfiguration book from a shelf and opening it to a random page.

"Really?" Lily asked, a bit shocked at the boy's answer.

"Yeah…" there was now a note of bitterness in the boy's voice, "you?"

"Gryffindor," Lily replied.

"Lucky."

"…What's your name?" Lily finally asked after a long silence. The boy gulped, as if he'd been dreading answering this question. "It's okay, I'll tell you my name first!" Lily assured him, "I'm Lily, Lily Luna Potter."

The boy turned to look at Lily for the first time, steel gray eyes biting into Lily's soft brown ones. There was something in his expression that reminded Lily of a beat dog, scared and dreading the next attack, but willing to fight back.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy."


	2. To Gain a Familiar

Chapter Two: To Gain A Familiar

Lily was still thinking about Scorpius Malfoy and his beat dog behavior as she walked to _Eeylop's Owl Emporium _with Harry_._

The boy had seemed even more terrified than before when he learned that he had to introduce himself to a Potter. The look of shock on his face when Lily hadn't run away or tried to hex him clearly said that Draco Malfoy had raised him to think that it was natural for Potters and Malfoys to hate each other. Lily had merely thanked him for sharing his name with her and walked to the door with her stack of books, as Harry had just arrived.

Then, all thoughts of Scorpius were wiped from Lily's mind. She now stood in a circular room with owl droppings and owls themselves everywhere. Lily walked through the whole shop, but couldn't find an owl that she thought she would like to see every morning for several years. They were all too small, too large, too cranky or too lazy. Harry just sighed and led his daughter across the road to a magical pet shop and told her to look for a pet while he got a drink from the Leaky Cauldron.

Lily strolled among the many cages and pens in the shop. Several sleek, intelligent-looking cats milled about behind a tall wire fence, but none of them looked like a good companion for Lily. Neither did the somersaulting rats, the singing parrots, or the glowing toads.

"Excuse me," Lily said quietly, reaching up to tap the owner of the shop on the shoulder as he walked past. "Could you help me find a pet?"

The tall man looked down at Lily with a smile. "I thought you would have wanted a cat. Most girls who come here do."

"The cats are nice and all, sir…" Lily said uncertainly, "But none of the animals I've seen so far feel right!"

"Ah…" the shopkeeper said, understanding coming into his eyes, "you're looking for your familiar."

Even though she had no idea what the man meant, Lily nodded.

"Then you should try across the road, at _Eugene's Undersized Oddities_. Not very many wizards bond with an owl or a cat."

Lily nodded again and set out towards the strange new shop. She opened the door, and a deep chime echoed into the shop. The many animals raised their heads to stare at the young girl, and a thestral stuck its head out of its pen to butt Lily's shoulder.

"Just look around, dear," a blond man who must have been Eugene said from a corner, where he sat reading a book with the gem-colored dragons sprawled around him. "Normal pets apply to the price tags, familiars are free. Oh, and do me a favor and feed the thestrals while you're over there. I forgot to earlier."

Lily looked around and spotted a wicker basket overflowing with raw meat not three feet from her. She bent over and pulled against it, but to no avail. It was extremely heavy. Lily shrugged and started tossing the strips of meat into the pen. The three thestrals scrambled for each bit of it, until, at last, there was no meat left in the basket. Lily sighed and stretched, feeding the thestrals had taken longer than she'd thought. She probably had five minutes tops before Harry returned, so she started to walk around the store, taking in every animal and hoping to find the right one.

The griffin wasn't right. It was too much like the cats in the pet shop. The gem-dragons were like scaly, brightly-colored owls. The thestrals were considered bad luck by most people. Hippogriffs grew and attacked people that approached them incorrectly. Lily had given up and plopped down in a chair to look at a collection of gem-dragon eggs, thinking that she would buy one of those instead of an owl, when she caught a flash of brilliant red out of the corner of her eye.

She whirled towards it, scanning the area for the source of the color, but soon turned back to the eggs. Their own colors really were beautiful. Maybe that red and gold one… she _was _a Gryffindor, after all!

Another flash of red. Closer this time.

Lily went still and kept a watchful eye on her surroundings. She had been like that for only a few seconds before she heard air rushing over wings and talons dug into her shoulder.

She slowly turned her head, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw what sat on her shoulder, serenely preening its blood-red feathers.

A phoenix. A living, breathing phoenix. A living, breathing phoenix was sitting on her shoulder. A living, breathing phoenix was sitting on her shoulder and not making any move to leave. A living, breathing phoenix was sitting on her shoulder and not making any move to leave _and hurting her shoulder badly and drenching her shirt in blood!_

Lily got up and walked towards the corner of the shop. The phoenix nestled into the crook of her neck with a satisfied chirp. "Mr. Eugene…"

Eugene looked up and jumped, his book flying into the Hippogriff pen, the amethyst dragon in his lap spilling onto the floor. "The phoenix…" he whispered, eyes fixed on the bird that seemed to be sleeping on Lily's shoulder. Then his eyes crinkled as he smiled. "He is yours, free of charge. You have found your familiar."

Lily walked out of the shop feeling nothing but shock and amazement. She had a familiar, whatever that was. Not only that, but she had a _phoenix_ for a familiar! She barely noticed the people that froze mid-step as they caught sight of the magnificent bird.

"Daddy, Mum, look!" she cried as she came to her senses in the doorway of the Leaky Cauldron. Darrel dropped the glass he held and it shattered against the floor. All conversation stopped as she ran to the table the rest of her family sat at. The phoenix cooed softly and raised its head to survey its new surroundings. Harry, Ginny, James, and Albus were all frozen, staring at Lily's familiar in shock.

"This family couldn't stay away from fame for _one generation?!_" Harry said in exasperation when he saw Rita Skeeter and her apprentice, who she was no doubt teaching to "spice up" articles, start scratching down notes.

"Oh, and Daddy," Lily began, "what's a familiar?"

"Lily," Ginny said as talk in the pub raised again, several people openly staring at the phoenix and the girl who held it. "A familiar is an animal that is bonded to a witch or wizard for life. It's very rare that one finds its way to the correct wizard, and even more rarely that an eleven-year-old gets one!"

"Yeah," Albus said gloomily from his seat, rubbing his bruise, "I try to find mine every year."

"I gave up in second year," James admitted sheepishly.

"Wow…" Lily whispered, but she wasn't paying attention to the conversation. She had picked up the phoenix and was cradling the obviously young bird in one arm. It seemed to glow with happiness at finally having found a wizard that it could spend its life with, the feathers so bright a red that they seemed to glow and cast a warm radiance around the pub. Its curved beak was dark gold, and clicked dangerously at anyone who was still staring at Lily, and its clawed feet were just a shade darker, because they were drenched in blood from the cuts on Lily's shoulder. The only truly unnerving thing about it was its eyes. Harry had told her that phoenixes' eyes were dark brown, but this phoenix's eyes were an extremely startling shade of sky blue, with rings of indigo that spread out like ripples from the bird's pupils. Lily got the feeling that this trait was extremely important, but she couldn't put her finger on _why _she felt that.

She brushed the top of the phoenix's head and down its neck as she thought, and gasped it alarm when a ridge of feathers rose from the bird's head. It wasn't because of the existence of the ridge, however. It was because of the colors that had previously been hidden below the rigid top feathers: blue, purple, and a few that had patterns of reflected light dancing across them, as if they were above or below water. More feathers stood up along the bird's body, revealing a solid coat of cool-colored feathers below the blood-red top feathers.

"Right about now," Harry stated, "I'm wishing that you didn't go to a pet shop at all."

Cameras were flashing in Rita Skeeter's general direction while a pair of Quick-Note Quills hurriedly copied down the events with a few undoubtedly false additions. Lily shielded the phoenix from sight by sitting down and setting it next to her, looking at her hand in amazement as the water-like reflection patterns danced across her skin. Eventually the phoenix's feathers smoothed down, but the talking in the Leaky Cauldron did not resume. Lily saw Rita Skeeter ushering her apprentice towards the table Lily sat at with her family.

"Not too many proud faces here, I see!" she sighed, sounding remarkably like Skeeter. Harry glared heavily at her, his eyes telling her one thing: leave… now. "Oh, a bit ashamed that your daughter is on the path to being a remarkable witch?" the apprentice asked, mock surprise coloring her voice.

Lily felt herself go red and she rose to her father's defense. "Listen, whatever your name is-"

"Katrina Zabini," the girl supplied.

Lily could feel her anger level rising with each infuriating second she had to look at Zabini with that sorrowful, pitying look on her face. "_You_ are the reason no one at this table looks happy… you _and_ Miss Mosquito over there! Shoo, fly, don't bother me!" there were several loud bursts of laughter following this, but Zabini, after looking back at Skeeter for advice, pressed on relentlessly.

"You poor, delusional, mistreated girl!" she sighed, attempting to hug Lily only to have the eleven-year-old yank out of her grasp, "Did he threaten you? Are you going to be hurt if you tell the truth? It wouldn't be the first time Harry Potter double-crossed someone who was supposed to be close to him!"

"Get _away_ from me!" Lily gasped, pulling backwards and pressing against her older brothers as Zabini attempted to pull her to her feet.

"Blink once if you were threatened, twice if you have already been hurt. The ministry can get you out of this in a snap!"

Lily snarled like a wild animal, baring her teeth at Zabini. The rest of her family was at a loss for words, unable to defend their daughter. Zabini had a firm hold on Lily's wrist and was straining backwards, trying with all her might to pull the girl to her feet when someone just slightly taller than herself appeared next to her.

"Let her go, Katrina!" Scorpius Malfoy growled, yanking Zabini's hands from Lily's wrist. The thirteen-year-old glared threateningly at the reporter, unfazed by the idea forming in her eyes.

"Oh…" Zabini said quietly, smiling warmly at Scorpius and then at Lily, "Someone told me that you two were seen talking to each other in Flourish and Blott's. A little more than friendship here, then?"

Lily turned red and drew up the hood of her cloak. Alright, she _did _like boys, but she had no intention to date one in her first year at Hogwarts, let alone a _Malfoy_! But she did feel a shock when she felt no hate towards the name that several Death Eaters had carried.

Scorpius's expression remained unchanged as he stared down the reporter. Zabini simply smiled at him. "Both of you may expect a complimentary copy of this week's _Daily Prophet_." She said cheerily before practically skipping across the room to where Skeeter sat in wait like an enormous, starving predator.

"Thank you," Lily whispered, just loud enough for the young Malfoy to hear.

"Anytime," Scorpius replied. He looked at Lily with an expression that had first come into his eyes when Lily hadn't run away at the bookstore. It took a moment to place it, but then it clicked: trust. Complete and total trust, the kind of trust that would compel the boy to do what Lily did even if she walked right off the edge of the Astronomy tower… dangerous trust. People had been killed by less.

Lily had just enough time to register this before Scorpius walked away.


	3. I Owe You

Chapter Three: I Owe You

Lily couldn't sleep that night. Why did Scorpius trust her so much? Why had he defended her from Zabini? She winced as she heard the sound of someone being beat up in a room below the one she shared with her brothers. After a long time, the sounds of fighting died down and Lily swung her legs out of bed, carefully stepping over Albus's sleeping form on the ground. James must have pushed him over the edge of the bed again.

Lily's bare feet slapped against the ground and her dark green pajamas fluttered in the slight breeze coming from the rickety old balcony that the door on the left side of the room led to. Lily walked out onto it, sighing as the warm breeze hit her and leaned against the railing. Diagon Alley looked very different under the stars. The shop windows glittered with the light from a few streetlamps. The dark shapes of the few wizards still shopping flitted about, occasionally slipping into a shop. The gem-dragons were asleep in the window of Eugene's shop, patches of rainbow-colored light dancing off of their scales, painting the shop and the street in front of it with constantly shifting colors. It gave the area an unnatural, eerie feel, and most people avoided the shop. Lily sighed again and leaned over the railing, trying to see the ground.

At first, she only heard the steady _creak, creak, creak_ of the Leaky Cauldron's rusty old sign swing back and forth in the wind. Then the loud _bang_ of a door being slammed. She shifted her weight from her left foot to her right, and that was when she heard a sound that revealed danger. _Cr-crack!_

Lily screamed as the balcony detached from the side of the Leaky Cauldron. She ran back to the door and tried to open it and jump back into the room, but the hinges were rusty and it wouldn't budge. She was suddenly falling, rooms flashing past, screams of panic and fear sounding from everyone who saw the girl falling from the sixth floor. Lily was about halfway to the ground when she felt a strong hand grasp her forearm.

Still breathing hard, Lily looked up and gasped as she saw Scorpius Malfoy looking back at her. He had a black eye and nearly every inch of his pale skin was covered in black-and-blue bruises. He was shaking from the effort of catching Lily and holding her three stories above the ground. He pulled back on Lily's arm and she started to use her free hand to drag herself upwards. Then Scorpius picked her up completely and swung her onto the balcony.

"Th-thank you… again…" Lily said, still in shock from her brief fall.

Scorpius smiled kindly. "Well, I couldn't just let you fall, could I?"

Lily smiled back. "The ground would have caught me."

Scorpius laughed, but then hissed in pain and rubbed his hand. The one he'd used to catch Lily.

"Are you okay?" Lily asked, concerned. When Scorpius didn't answer, she took his hand and looked at it. She immediately wished that she hadn't.

The palm of the boy's hand was sliced open, blood still gushing from it. The skin around it was stretched tight and shone red-pink.

"Here… let me help…" Lily started to rip off a piece of her pajamas for a bandage when she felt feathers brush the back of her head and talons slip into the deep grooves in her shoulder. The phoenix leaned forward and tilted its head back and forth as it examined Scorpius's hand, and a tear slid out of its unnerving blue-and-indigo eyes, dropping into the bone-deep wound. Steam rose from the exposed flesh as the inflamed skin returned to its normal color and closed over the gap. The hollow space below filled out as new flesh grew in place of the old.

"Wow." Scorpius said bluntly, staring openly at his newly-healed hand. The phoenix didn't make a sound as it sat down, Lily wincing in pain as its talons dug a little deeper into her shoulder.

Lily looked up from trying in vain to loosen the phoenix's grip on her shoulder and saw that Scorpius was looking her directly in the eye. He was just starting to back up when a light flashed from a balcony below them and to the left. Lily turned to look at it, and nearly screamed in frustration when she saw Zabini and Skeeter standing there with cameras.

"I am going to _murder_ those two!" Lily fumed. She attempted a running start to leap onto the reporters' balcony, but Scorpius grabbed her hands and held her back.

"That is _not_ a smart move, Potter." The Slytherin chuckled. Lily huffed and turned away from the two. She gritted her teeth when there was another flash.

"You'd better get back to your own room," Scorpius said, glaring at the reporters in irritation, "We're just giving them leverage."

Lily nodded and walked to the door, glancing anxiously at Scorpius's father, who had somehow not been woken up by the chaos outside. If he woke up now, however, Lily was as good as dead.

"Lily…" James called tentatively from the living room of the Potter's home in Godric's Hollow. "You _need_ to look at this…"

"I'm in here! Albus failed to cook Dad's birthday cake, so I took over!"

James sprinted into the kitchen, shoved the latest edition of the _Daily Prophet_ into his little sister's hands before dashing away and up the stairs as quickly as possible. More than a little confused, Lily looked down at the newspaper. Merely the title on the front page was enough to make her spitting mad.

_**Potter/Malfoy Romance?**_

_**By Rita Skeeter**_

Below this was the picture of Lily and Scorpius standing together on the balcony. Almost fearing what the article said, Lily read on.

_Eleven-year-old Lillian Luna Potter, although the youngest of her family, seems to have developed at least one of her Aunt Hermione Weasley's traits: she has already charged headfirst into romance, and was sighted by several wizards in Flourish and Blott's speaking to Scorpius Lucius Malfoy, who has been thirteen-years-old since late January. "They were more comfortable in each other's company than any pair of friends," Yolanda Goyle claimed when asked what she noticed about the two. And she isn't the only one. Jean Flourish and her cousin, Gregory Blott, admit having seen the two talking for a time, partially hidden from sight by a book shelf._

_And that isn't the end of it. Later, when asked for details about her family life as well as her familiar, a phoenix breed long thought to be extinct, Scorpius Malfoy rather rudely told junior investigator Katrina Zabini that the girl did not want to answer any questions._

_After that, at nearly midnight, Lily was seen plummeting from a sixth story window at the Leaky Cauldron in London. Scorpius Malfoy caught her from his own balcony and helped her up. While witnesses claim that the balcony in Lily's room had been unstable for a long time, it could easily have been a scheme to spend time with Scorpius. The third-year Slytherin, when asked about the purpose of this visit, very firmly stated that Lily had indeed fallen from her own room._

_(For more information on Iceberg Phoenixes, the growing tensions in the Potter family after the emergence of Lily's own Iceberg Phoenix, and Lily's mental instability, turn to page 3.)_

Lily had felt herself getting angrier and angrier as she glared at the story. It was almost completely made up! Her name wasn't even Lillian! "I… am going to kill… that _irritating mosquito_!"

Albus, who'd been trying to clean the burnt cake batter out of the oven, yelped and dove under a table. Lily was beyond furious. No one – _no one_ – insulted her family, her sanity, her familiar, and Lily herself in one go! Zabini and Skeeter had just made a very, very, _very_ dangerous enemy! Lily got up and started to pace, sparks flying from her whenever she turned. A fiery glow seemed to have replaced her brown eyes, her gaze scorching everything it landed on. Her hands rapidly clenched and unclenched, her teeth bared in fury. Just as the level of magic in her body reached a dangerous level, the door banged open.

"Lily, _stop!_" Harry shouted. Ginny and James stood behind him, both looking slightly frightened by Lily's outburst. The young witch stopped in her tracks and turned to look at her family. At first, she just seemed to get angrier, her hair standing on end with sparks racing up and down each strand. Then, the red glow in her eyes slowly disappeared, and she relaxed visibly.

"Sorry…" she said in a small voice, "I had to vent."

Harry burst out laughing.

Lily leaned against the rain-chilled window. The train ride to Hogwarts was ridiculously boring. At least the other kids had something to do. They had friends from previous years at the school, spells they could practice and some that they knew. Lily, one of a considerably smaller number of first-years that were coming to Hogwarts for the first time ever, couldn't even open a spell book without being bored to sleep. She wrapped her arms around her still-unnamed phoenix. He was a good companion… but he was very picky with names. He had actually clicked his beak in disapproval when Ginny had shouted Albus's full name.

Lily was about to just go to sleep for the duration of the train ride when she heard a commotion outside. She was up in a flash, her phoenix squawking before bobbing awkwardly to the door alongside her.

It was Scorpius Malfoy. He was being beat up by a large group of boys, some from Gryffindor, and some not. Lily didn't even have time to think before her legs moved of their own accord and she found herself standing in front of the boys, Scorpius laying limply on ground a few feet away.

"Back – off!" the girl snarled, glaring at the boys, who, for a brief moment, glared back, but then one of the smaller ones gave a small yelp and fled. This started a metaphorical avalanche of fleeing boys. Lily turned as Scorpius spoke.

"Why did you help me?"

"I owed you," Lily replied simply before walking back to her compartment.


	4. Where To Put You?

**I am **_**so**_** excited! This is the fourth chapter of what I'm hoping is a long book with a sequel or two! Okay, so this is where the OC comes in, and sorry if I twist the Harry Potter series beyond recognition! Just so you know, I put up two polls, one on who Lily should be paired with in later books, and who the OC should be paired with in later books. If you review and tell me a story I know that I can twist enough to fit to The Phoenix Feather Chronicles, then I'll try my best to put it in. Eragon and Spirit Animals are definitely in though.**

Chapter Four: "Where to Put You?"

Lily was one of the most nervous first-years in the group. She had no idea which House she would be in. Sure, her mother and father had been in Gryffindor, but Albus had been in Hufflepuff, and James in Ravenclaw. '_Please don't be Slytherin!'_ she thought desperately, squeezing her wand tightly.

"We are ready for you, now." The new Deputy Headmaster, Blaise Zabini, stood in the doorway of the small room the fifteen or sixteen first-years had been waiting in. Taking a deep breath, Lily was one of the first to move, and therefore one of the first in the double line leading into the Great Hall. '_Wow… just… wow.'_ Was all she could think.

The enchanted roof (James hadn't lied about that, at least!) showed the crystal-clear, star-spattered sky above the castle. Candles floated through the air, casting a warm glow on the hundreds of students below. The various school ghosts hung around the tables, beaming at the unusually small group of first-years.

Lily was so preoccupied with her surroundings that she didn't notice her speed dropping until she was on the floor, the rest of the eight or so first-years in her line tripping over her. "Hello, floor, nice to meet you." Lily said in a muffled voice as she tried to get up. There was roar of laughter from the nearby students. The first-years were too worried to laugh, but they did smile slightly. Lily clambered to her feet, dusted off her robes, and ran to catch up to the second line. Headmistress McGonagall stood in front of them. She had insisted that she continue to do the Sorting, even after it was supposed to go to Blaise.

As soon as the first-years were all spread out in a crescent around the small stool and the beat-up Sorting Hat, McGonagall read the first name. "Abbot, Joey," a small, mousy boy with wild brown hair quickly mounted the steps and sat down on the stool. McGonagall dropped the hat onto his head and it immediately shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Joey got up and ran for his House table, McGonagall snatching the Sorting Hat from his head as he went.

"Finnigan, Sierra," pause, "RAVENCLAW!"

"Green, Megan," pause, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"O'Neal, Tony," pause, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Potter, Lily!" McGonagall finally called. Lily climbed up the stairs to the stool and sat down. The old wood creaked dangerously underneath her, and her slight fear picked up when the Sorting Hat was lowered over her eyes, cancelling her eyesight. Before long, a voice sounded in her head.

"_Another Potter? I thought there were only two!"_ Lily bristled at this comment, but didn't speak.

"_Ah… angry, but controlled. Ravenclaw, maybe? No, no, no… such a waste to spend such ability on book work… Gryffindor? No, that isn't it, either! Too controlled! Not Hufflepuff, definitely not! Not Slytherin, either… my, my, what a strange one you are, Miss Potter! You don't belong in any House!"_

Fear washed over Lily. She had never, ever thought that she wouldn't be allowed in any House! That was one of the most certain things about Hogwarts! Gryffindor for the brave at heart, Hufflepuff for the loyal, Ravenclaw for the obnoxiously smart, and Slytherin for the cunning! What did that make her, then? A coward, disloyal, dumb, and… un-cunning? Was that the opposite of cunning?

As if from far away, Lily heard the Sorting Hat's decision. "UNDETERMINED!" ripples of gasps ran through the Great Hall at this.

"Undetermined?" Lily heard several people shout out, "What's that mean? Where will she go, already?!"

The hat was lifted from Lily's head and she just sat there. She couldn't join Rose and Hugo at the Gryffindor table, she couldn't join Albus at the Hufflepuff table, and she couldn't join James at the Ravenclaw table! She couldn't even go to the Slytherin table!

"Stand over there, Miss Potter," McGonagall whispered, clearly shocked. Lily got up and walked across the room, sitting down and leaning against the wall. She closed her eyes and tuned out the noise of the Great Hall, not wanting to dwell on the fact that she would most likely be sent home while the others were sorted. She was forced to acknowledge her surroundings, however, when someone sat down next to her. She looked up to see who it was.

A tall, pale boy sat next to her, looking shell-shocked… looking just like Lily felt. His unnatural hair, colored midnight blue, hung in rugged curtains around his face, barely concealing the half-healed bruises on his skin. He stared wistfully at the last child to be sorted – Morgan Sudds – and then sighed, shifting his startlingly blue gaze to the ground.

"Hello," Lily said quietly, "what's your name?"

"Bo," the boy replied, his voice no more than a sigh.

"Bo who?" Lily asked timidly.

"Bo… just Bo…"

Lily would have inquired further, but then McGonagall appeared in front of them, as Blaise was giving the start-of-term speech. "Follow me," she said, pulling Lily and Bo to their feet.

Then she set off, the two confused and upset first-years jogging to keep up. Hundreds of eyes followed them as they hurried out of the Great Hall. Before long, the stone gargoyle that guarded the Headmaster's/mistress's office. "Gryffindor," McGonagall said before she'd even stopped. She immediately started climbing the staircase that was revealed when the gargoyle jumped aside. Lily and Bo followed suit.

They were in McGonagall's office after just a few seconds of climbing. The Headmistress opened the door and beckoned the two inside, closing the door behind them.

"Headmaster Tobias," she said, turning to one of the paintings on the wall, "it has happened again!"

An old man stirred in the particular painting that was being spoken to. "It… it… what do you mean – oh, _it!_" the man sat up excitedly and zeroed in on Lily and Bo. "Oh, I thought that it would take at least another twenty years for it to happen again!"

"What do you mean?" Lily and Bo asked in unison. The old man laughed out loud.

"My dears, you will find out soon enough!"

"Well, I want to know _now!_" Bo demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"Very well, very well," the old man sighed, settling down in his chair. "In short, it means you are not who you think you are."

"What?" Lily asked, leaning forward, "I don't think I heard you right."

"My dear Miss…"

"Potter. Lily Potter."

"Miss Potter, you were not born to a family in this world! At least one of your parents was a Traveler, meaning a person of any race that can travel between worlds. They must have thought that you would be safer here than your homeland, and a wizard family adopted you! Who exactly your parents are cannot be said, although Travelers are so rare that it would be easy to pick them out!" he turned his gaze to Bo. "You, my boy, look like one of your parents was at least half elf!"

Bo blinked. "You mean, like, the fairy-things that tip over buckets and play pranks?"

"No, no, no!" the old man cried, "I mean the wood-elves and their kin, the oldest and most fabled race in history!" he spun to look at Lily, "You, however… much more magic to you! Maybe elven and something else, maybe not! Maybe even wizards from another world! My, what a puzzle you two are!" he smiled warmly at them. "And now, which House you will be sorted into! That, fortunately, is very simple. The House of No Name, for no-names you are! No, you are not a Potter, Miss Lily, not truly! Your name might not even be Lily!"

Lily groaned out loud at this. She might not be Lily? That was the one piece of familiarity she had thought she would always have. She perked up, however, when the old man spoke again.

"However, there is one test to determine if you are Travelers, and that the Sorting Hat did not make a mistake!" he leaned forward in the picture, "Where are your phoenixes?"

As if on cue, Lily's phoenix flew through the window, closely followed by another one, only this one was blue on the upper layer of feathers and red on the lower. Lily just stood still as her familiar circled her, and didn't even wince as the bird landed on her shoulder, claws slipping into the grooves it had cut into her shoulder by sitting there day after day. Bo held out his arm and his own phoenix landed on his wrist before climbing up his arm and settling onto his shoulder.

"Ah!" the old man said, clearly surprised, "You _are_ Travelers!"

"I don't understand!" Bo said at last, "What does she have to do with me being a-a… Traveler?"

"Everything!" the old man cried, "Everything, my dear boy! They are only phoenixes in this world! In others, they are horses, dragons, and various animals! Never underestimate them! They enable you to use your Inheritance!"

"Inheritance?" Bo asked slowly, "What Inheritance? I'm muggleborn. My parents can't have passed anything magical on to me, could they?"

"Weren't you listening, boy? Your parents are not your parents! And as for your Inheritance, that would be the skill to travel between worlds!"

"Professor…" Lily started, "did you know about my being… adopted?"

McGonagall nodded, and Lily was alarmed to see that the woman was almost crying. "I was the one that suggested your father leave you in this world, as your own was in the midst of a war."

"What was my name?"

"Glorwen," McGonagall replied.

"And my father's?"

"…I can't remember… the Unspeakables wiped my memory of all that wasn't well hidden within my mind… or in phials here at Hogwarts, waiting to be viewed in a Pensieve!"

Lily's high spirits fell. She knew her name (Glorwen! What a cool name!), but she was still a long way from finding her family. Her _real_ family! Not that she didn't love the Potters, but she couldn't wait to meet her mother, father, and possible siblings!

"What about me?" Bo asked, having quietly stood by while Lily got the information she wanted. "What was my name? My parents' names? Do I have brothers or sisters?"

"You were unnamed when you came here, so we chose the closest name to your father's: Bo. I can't remember what his name actually was, however. Very long, complicated, and half-wiped out."

Bo sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine. I'll find it out for myself once I figure out where he is."

"Ah!" the old man in the painting shouted, "Already keen to use his powers! All in good time, my boy, all in good time!"

"Wait…" Lily said, slowly coming to a conclusion, "Is there anyone else here who has been in the… what was it again? The House of Nameless? The House of None? Oh… the House of No Name!"

"Yes." Surprisingly, it was McGonagall who had spoken. "Professor Trelawney was. It is with her you'll be staying, and believe me when I say that I pity you!"

"Let's go, then." Bo sighed.

"Yeah," Lily agreed, "let's get this over with!"

Lily's legs were starting to ache and was definitely very dizzy when they arrived at the trap door leading to Trelawney's classroom. McGonagall took out her wand and waved it, causing the trap door to open and a silver ladder to descend to the floor.

"Up you go, then!" she said briskly, stepping aside. "I don't feel up to climbing up there, so you will be the ones to explain!"

Feeling more uneasy than ever before, Lily and Bo climbed up the silver ladder. Bo immediately relaxed, the calm aura of the classroom effecting him. Lily, on the other hand, tensed up: James had told her how crazy Trelawney was.

The woman herself sat in a corner, knitting a long scarf. An old, blood-red phoenix with a blue chest sat on the table next to her. It squawked when it saw the two new phoenixes and their masters.

Trelawney's head snapped up and her freakishly large eyes widened even more as she saw the two first-years standing in her classroom. "Who… who are you, children?" she said, managing to use a misty, faraway voice, although she was clearly shocked.

"I'm Lily Potter," Lily said, "but you can call me Glorwen." Trelawney stared openly at the girl.

"And I'm Bo… just Bo." Now it was his turn to be stared at.

"Okay…" Lily said after a long pause, "I guess that we were… err… _sorted_ into the House of No Name."

"OH!" Trelawney gasped, her phoenix's head coming up. "You are the ones that I sensed would come! You may call me Angelina! And this is Lenora!" she gestured to her phoenix.

"Uh… this is No-Name one, and that's No-Name two," Bo stated.

"All fine, my boy, all fine," Trelawney assured him, "names come later on! Now, this way to the Common Room!"


	5. Part One: Traveling

**Okay, so I just want you to know that I have my good writing days, and my bad ones. I started writing this on a bad day, but it gets a little better (in my opinion) towards the end. Feel free to criticize my writing: I'm not getting anything out of my family!**

**Oh, and I forgot this in the last few chapters: I OWN NOTHING BUT MY OCs AND THE PLOT! IF I WAS J.K ROWLING OR J.R.R TOLKIEN, I WOULDN'T BE WRITING THIS STORY!**

Chapter Five: Part One: Traveling

Trelawney… uh… _Angelina_ turned out to be a reasonable woman. She was not a very good teacher, though. After showing Bo and Lily to their dormitory – there was only one, as the House of No Name was supposed to be a secret – she gave them their first class assignment: throw random things into a cauldron and see if they had a "natural flare" for potions.

They decided to save the potions for the next day. Lily's cauldron had melted into a puddle of red-hot metal after she had thrown in a handful of earthworms and porcupine quills. Angelina had thrown a fit and started trying to clean it up, but it turns out that a mixture of melted iron, earthworm guts, and porcupine quills is immune to magic. Bo had fared much better, but had ended up in the hospital wing the day after because the gas given off by the potion caused huge boils to pop up on his skin.

After Lily's Cauldron Muck had been cleaned up by hand, and Bo's boils had cleared away, Angelina handed them off to McGonagall for training. The potions fail had proven that a teacher who had taught a reliable subject was more suited to the job. While a much stricter teacher, McGonagall taught them more than Angelina could have managed. Within the first two weeks, they had learned spells that normal first-years could only dream of performing.

One day, they were woken up early – before the sun had even started to rise – by an abnormal light in their shared dormitory.

"Just a few more minutes…" Bo yawned, burrowing deeper into the blankets.

"Up," the tabby cat Patronus said in McGonagall's voice.

"Ugh…" Lily groaned – she was _not_ a morning person.

"Up," the tabby cat insisted.

"No… too… tired…" Bo sighed, starting to drift off again.

The tabby cat tried a different tactic. "If you aren't up in five seconds, Lily's cousin will eat your food!"

"I'm up!" Bo yelped, jumping out of bed and struggling with the sheets tangled around him.

"Hugo wouldn't _dare_ eat my breakfast! Lily snarled, swinging out of bed much more gracefully than Bo.

The tabby cat looked faintly amused and then disappeared.

"Where's breakfast!?" Bo yelled as he ran downstairs, still tugging on one shoe. Lily was close behind, shouting, "Hugo, step away from the bacon!" as she tied her hair up in a ponytail.

The two rocketed into Angelina's classroom just as they realized that they'd been tricked. They were a thirty-minute walk from the Great Hall (at least, it felt that way) and Hugo had never even been near their dormitory. Lily's _brothers_ hadn't even been there! Lily closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying not to get too upset, as McGonagall had told them the day before that if she flew off the handle, she might trigger her Inheritance, and end up in a different world and not be able to find her way back, as she didn't yet know how to purposefully Travel. Bo, however, had no such thoughts. He flew into a spitting rage at being tricked so easily and Angelina looked up from her breakfast to watch him, ready to cast a spell if he was in danger of hurting himself or breaking something.

Suddenly, Lily felt a powerful aura flood the room. It got steadily stronger and the two as-of-yet unnamed phoenixes, along with Angelina's phoenix, Lenora, woke up suddenly. Lily's phoenix and Lenora looked very calm, almost sleepy, but Bo's phoenix gave a shrill cry and leapt from its perch, shimmering blue wings spreading majestically as the bird took to the air. It landed on the boy's arm, and they were both engulfed in flame. When it cleared, there was absolutely no trace of the two, not even a burnt circle on the floor. Well, no trace _except_ for a single, bright blue feather that drifted lazily to the floor, and then it vanished in a puff of smoke and sparks.

Angelina was the first to speak. "Oh, no… Merlin help that boy…" she just sat there, shocked and horrified. It took Lily a minute to understand why, and then, as it dawned on her, she found herself grabbing her wand and running to the trap door, dropping out of it suddenly as it was opened by Angelina's first class of the day. There were gasps of admiration as Lily's phoenix swooped out after its master, shimmering blue under-feathers displayed as it ruffled its feathers.

Lily dashed through the halls of Hogwarts, ignoring the cries of surprise: it was well-known (as McGonagall intended) that Lily required special training because she had somehow inherited some long-dead branch of ancient magic. She slowed down as she reached the corridor that McGonagall's classroom was supposed to be in. She glanced through each open doorway, briefly opening ones that were closed. Most classrooms were empty, but some held classes. Professor Flitwick squeaked as Lily opened the door to his classroom, and fell over backwards as Lily whisked away, slamming the door behind her. Firenze, a centaur that had been employed as a second Divination teacher, looked vaguely startled as he caught Lily peeking around the corner of the doorway.

Finally, she found the correct room: McGonagall was talking to a class, showing them how to cast Transfiguration charms on themselves. As Lily watched, wondering how she could talk to McGonagall without their conversation being overheard and spread via gossip, a boy accidentally set his hair on fire. The class started to scream, all of them forgetting they were wizards in their terror.

"CLASS DISMISSED!" McGonagall shouted as she shot jets of water at the flaming boy. If Lily had been there in any other circumstance, she would have laughed. However, she needed someone to find and help Bo as soon as possible.

"Professor!" Lily hissed as the last student left the room, "It's about Bo!"

Professor McGonagall jumped, having not noticed Lily standing in the door, and then ushered her inside and shut the door. "What happened?" she asked urgently.

"I think he Traveled on accident, Professor. Got angry and disappeared. His phoenix, too."

"Oh, no," McGonagall whispered, fear clear in her expression. Then, she said the last thing that Lily expected to hear. "Potter, your Traveler training begins now."

The next several minutes were a blur. The next thing Lily was aware of was that she was standing in McGonagall's office – the Headmaster's office – and being told a single spell in multiple languages by the long-dead Headmaster Tobias.

"Right now," the old man said, leaning forward attentively, "the only one you need to know is '_Portalis Facio_'. You will only use other spells when there are others around you who may recognize this one as a spell and use it the wrong way. Your phoenix will travel with you, although he may not be a phoenix in the world Bo is in. Now, it would be wise to go and say your goodbyes, and for this, you may tell your brothers and parents of the Travelers, and that they must not expect you back before Christmas, or even summer vacation. Go on!"

Lily had run out of the office before she was fully aware of her surroundings, resulting in her crashing into a wall after she passed the gargoyle. In minutes she was at the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room. Not knowing what to do to get in, she knocked on the door. It opened, and she saw Joey Abbot, another first-year, peering uncertainly at her.

"I need to talk to Albus," Lily panted, clutching a stitch in her side. Joey looked frightened and immediately shouted, "Al, your sister's here!"

Lily plopped down on the floor, trying to catch her breath, as she heard a clamor jump up in the common room. Albus emerged several seconds later, looking very excited, and for good reason: he hadn't seen Lily except for during mealtimes, and then she ate very quickly at a small table in the corner and left.

"Follow me," Lily said, turning and breaking into a forced sprint towards the Ravenclaw dormitories. Albus looked dumbfounded but followed her.

It was a good thing that there were no classes at that time: no people were out in the hallways, and James was certain to be in the common room. At last, a panting Lily and a half-dead Albus stumbled to a stop in front of the door to the Ravenclaw common room. Lily reached out and grabbed the knocker, slamming it against the wooden door once and nearly groaned in frustration as it spouted a question.

"Which came first, the phoenix or the flame?"

"Neither!" Lily shouted at it, "Everyone knows that it – is – neither!"

"Control your temper," the door warned before swinging open.

Needless to say, the Ravenclaws behind the door were scared witless, a couple of the first-years actually shaking in fright. "Where's James?" Lily asked, still fuming from the stupid door.

The Ravenclaws immediately pointed to a chair in the corner. A shell-shocked James sat in it. "Lily!" he exclaimed, "It's been a while!"

"Follow me," Lily replied, turning and leaving the room. Both of her brothers followed her, and she didn't stop running until she reached the empty owlery. Then she turned to face her brothers. "I'm not who you think I am…"

James and Albus, to their credit, didn't interrupt Lily's story at all. They just stared at her, eyes as round as saucers. "Well?" Lily snapped, getting impatient: Bo had been her best friend the last several days.

"We'll write to Mum and Dad," James said at last, "you go and find Bo. That's your main priority."

"Thank you," Lily whispered, feeling herself tearing up at the sight of her two adopted brothers still acting as if they were truly related to her.

She turned to face the open air on one side of the owlery and raised her wand. Her phoenix sank his claws into the deep dents in her shoulder and spread his wings, feathers beginning to glow slightly.

"Portalis Facio," Lily murmured, and a pinpoint of bright golden light appeared in front of her, growing steadily into an oval about the size of a door. "Bye," she whispered, and faintly heard James and Albus's replies behind her before she jumped, sailing into the portal.


	6. Part Two: Glorwen on Weathertop

_**Please**_** review! I have no idea whether or not I'm doing a good job on this, and I'm still not getting any answers from my family! I'm doing my best!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs and the plot, as I seriously doubt anyone else is crazy enough to twist the Harry Potter series so badly!**

Chapter Five: Part Two: Glorwen on Weathertop

Lily eventually just closed her eyes as she drifted through the portal. She was going incredibly slowly, but her surroundings moved at an alarming rate. The colors flashed past her – blue, green, yellow, orange, red, and back again – and swirled together, making new hues she'd never seen. She would have liked to watch them, but she was getting sick from the constant motion. She didn't know how long she was Traveling, but it seemed like forever and yet mere seconds. At long last, the bright, flashy colors of Traveling faded to the soft, natural daylight. Lily felt herself settling into long grass, and heard the chirping of multiple birds. Her phoenix, who had sat patiently on her shoulder until then, stood several feet away, but he was a phoenix no longer: he was a chestnut horse with a grayish stripe on his face, and strands of gray mixed into his mane.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Headmaster Tobias had said that Travelers often landed somewhere painful, but she seemed to have simply landed in a meadow. She sat up, brushing dirt off of her jeans, and looked around. She ran her fingers through her hair, attempting to dislodge any leaves in it, and then paused suddenly. Her hair had been shoulder-length. Now it was twice as long. She held a strand of it in front of her face, and froze. Her hair had turned blond. She was _not_ a blond. No, no, no, no… **(A/N: No offence to blondes!)**

Before she even knew what she was doing, Lily found herself back in the portal, drifting just a little faster towards her new destination than she had in her previous trip. She instantly closed her eyes, the dizzy feeling from earlier coming back strongly. Then normal light replaced the portal, and Lily fell onto a hard wooden floor.

"Hello!" a familiar voice said from nearby. "Who are you, Traveler?"

Lily got up, shoving her hair back from her face, and turned to Headmaster Tobias's portrait. "It's me again." She announced.

"Miss Potter… I-I mean, Glorwen!" the old man sputtered, looking at Lily in shock. "I-I hope you are not very angry… an old man's memory fades, you see? I had quite forgotten what Traveling does to those with spells altering their appearance!"

"You mean," Lily started slowly, "that I'm really blond?"

"Yes!" Tobias squeaked, still startled by Lily's sudden appearance, "And y-you're q-quite a b-b-bit taller, too! _Definitely_ Elven blood!"

"Huh. Well, here I go. I'll be back if anything else happens, though." With that, Lily conjured another portal and jumped into it. You should have a good idea of what Traveling looks like now, so I'll skip ahead. Although, this was one of her less desirable Traveling experiences.

She was suddenly jerked in the wrong direction, and then felt her shoulder slam into stone. She sprang to her feet and nearly screamed in frustration when she saw that she was still in Hogwarts. She was on her feet and about to Travel when a voice shouted from the other end of the hall.

"Take me with you!" Scorpius Malfoy wailed as he rushed towards Lily, having seen her sudden appearance, and indeed found out more about Iceberg Phoenixes than anyone outside of the Ministry. Lily had no time to react as Scorpius continued speaking.

"Please, get me out of here! I'm tired of being a Slytherin! Just drop me off in another world and leave me! It's better than this place!"

Lily blinked in surprise – mostly because Scorpius recognized her in her new form – and then held out her hand. Scorpius took it, and then they were off. Scorpius screamed in terror as he Traveled for the first, and most likely last, time.

Lily found herself back in the meadow with her phoenix-horse after her fourth time Traveling, only this time, she didn't land on her back; she found her feet the instant she landed. Scorpius, however wasn't as lucky. He slammed into the grass, and groaned a good deal before finally climbing to his feet. She looked towards her transfiguring horse-phoenix and tilted her head to one side.

"I really need to give you a name!" she said, and the phoenix-horse nodded energetically, nickering as he did so. Scorpius simply looked on in confusion. Then, a branch snapped somewhere in the forest surrounding the little meadow. "But names can wait!" Lily yelped, diving into the trees opposite the sound, Scorpius scrambling after her. Her eyes widened as a man in Middle Ages-style clothing stepped into sight. He searched the surrounding area carefully, missing Lily by mere inches. Finally, he turned back the way he came and called out:

"There is nothing here. Whatever made the sound that frightened you, Master Merry, it is here no longer. Let us move on!"

Four little children dashed out of the trees. But they weren't children. Lily could see that. They each had the appearance of grown men, more or less. The smallest of them – a creature (there was no other word for them at the time) with blondish, curly hair on both his head and large, bare feet – tripped over a stone, and Lily flinched as he came within and inch of finding her and Scorpius (who was now gripping her shoulder as if it were a life line). But then her horse trotted forward, whinnying in greeting.

"Ah!" the tiny man yelled, scrambling backwards. The horse jerked backwards, indignation on its face… or, at least, that's how Lily saw it.

The normal man – who truly needed a haircut, Lily noted – turned and stared at the horse for a long while. The horse stared back, occasionally swishing its tail at a passing fly.

"You are an Elven horse," he said quietly, walking forward, "It seems that you were frightened of an Elf, Master Merry," he said, breaking the trance everyone was in at the sight of the abnormally intelligent horse. An expression of wonder and awe came onto the face of one of the small creatures, and the only dark-haired one besides the normal man laughed.

"If only we were here earlier," he said, "Sam could have met the Elf, and not the horse!"

The awed creature – Sam, supposedly – didn't seem to mind just meeting the horse, though. He walked forward until he was directly in front of the chestnut, and then raised one hand, petting the horse gently on the nose. Then, suddenly, the horse sank to the ground, just to Sam's level. He walked subconsciously to the horse's side, swinging his leg over its side and pulling himself onto its back.

"Come now, Sam!" one of the other creatures laughed, "That could be an Elf's only way to get home!" Sam blushed and tried to get off, but the horse stood up abruptly. The normal man smiled.

"It seems you are riding to Rivendell, Sam!" he chuckled. "At least as far as the horse will carry you!"

Lily huffed in annoyance. So she had to walk? She didn't have leather feet, like the small creatures supposedly had, and her shoes weren't that great. The three other small creatures seemed to be of the same mind, rubbing the soles of their feet as they grumbled about "Stupid Elves" that left their "Stupid horses" in the middle of the "Stupid forest".

"_What?"_ Scorpius hissed, clearly annoyed, "_We_ couldn't ride to Rivendell, or wherever it is we're going?"

As the group moved off, they decided that she had no choice but to follow, and be quiet about it. An Elf tailing the group might make the people in it more suspicious than the sudden appearance of the horse. She took off after them, going slow at first, and then faster as her horse spooked slightly at something – a slight change in the air, as Lily could feel it, too – and insisted on a slow trot. Sam was tossed from side to side as he clutched the stallion's gray-streaked mane.

This went on all day, broken only by the creatures and the man slowing to climb the side of a hill crowned with ruins. The horse, however, had no such ideas. He leapt forward and galloped up the hill, straight to the top. Sam nearly fell off, and Lily felt as if she was _actually_ falling – a blue roan mare had appeared beside the stallion. Bo was here. Lily could sense it!

"Why're you so excited?" Scorpius grumbled; the day-long jog hadn't done anything for his mood.

As soon as darkness fell, Lily and Scorpius took off up the hill: there had been exclamations over the second "Elven horse", but now both creatures were standing in the fading light, being thoroughly examined by "Strider", the normal man, and the three little creatures besides Sam; Merry, Pippin, and Frodo. Sam himself was in awe of the two new additions to the group – neither horse had any reason to leave, as their owners were nearby. At the top of the hill, among the rubble, were the marks of heavy boots, and one pair of lighter prints, accompanied by the hoof prints of the blue roan mare. The pair of magic-users (as Lily couldn't rightly be called a witch anymore) followed these deeper into the ruins, and then found him, curled up in a puddle of dried blood.

Bo was in a horrible state, covered in gashes and bruises, and what skin wasn't broken or painted black-and-blue was covered with blood. Lily gasped and tried to pull him to his feet, but he groaned in pain and she dropped him back to the ground and patted his shoulder awkwardly, wondering what she was going to do. Scorpius simply stared openly, wondering why Boy Blue – as the normal wizards and witches called the boy – was in this alternate world.

Then it hit both her and Scorpius at the same time. The group on the hillside. They could help! A grin split Lily's face as she whispered, "Be right back!" to Bo and "Stay here!" to Scorpius, and then turned and ran down to the group. However, she failed to notice that it was well after sunset, and the group was well-armed and suspicious. She was about ten feet away and going slower to ensure that she didn't fall when Strider's head snapped up, eyes gazing searchingly in the darkness.

"Extinguish the fire!" he hissed, "I heard something walking this way!"

Lily's eyes went as round as saucers. She never thought for one minute that he had heard _her_, but instead concluded that a threat was nearby. She backed away in the total darkness, more terrified than she had ever been in her entire life, until she hit something tall and definitely alive.

Strider jumped backwards, away from the contact, and bowled over one of the small creatures, either Merry or Pippin, from the tone of the indignant shouts. This set off a chain reaction, and ended up in everyone, even Lily, screaming and swiping at empty air with what weapons they possessed (in Lily's case, her wand).

Finally, a light pierced the darkness, and Strider waved a torch around, frantically trying to find the "threat". What he found was Lily flung flat out on the ground, trusting to her traveling cloak to keep her hidden. Hey, it had worked before, at Hogwarts!

"Get up!" Strider demanded, "Who are you?"

Lily stood up from the ground with as much dignity as she could muster… which wasn't much. She stumbled in the process, and ended up having to grip a stunted tree for support, and then she was covered in clay and dust when she completely straightened up, and her hands were painted black from something on the tree branch. All the while she wondered what name she would use to introduce herself. This, however, proved to be unnecessary, as Strider not only knew an Elven horse when he saw one, but also an Elf.

Sam had fainted on the spot, Merry, Pippin and Frodo looking like they might soon do the same, but Strider had pure confusion on his face as he looked at Lily.

Finally, he managed to speak. "I was not aware that there were any Elflings in Middle Earth." He stated bluntly.

Lily took this as insult, in her book. "Well, I wasn't aware that someone running for help could alarm you all to attack-mode, but it happened!"

"I did not mean it like you took it, Elfling," Strider said quickly, "Merely that you are the youngest Elf I have ever seen, and no Elves have been born for centuries!" he looked even more confused as he took in the meaning behind Lily's insulted tone. "You were running for help?" he questioned.

"Yes!" Lily was relieved beyond belief that the man figured this out by himself, "Follow me!"

She ran up the hill, nearly laughing as she heard the group stumble slightly as they attempted to match her speed. After running back to help one of them up a hard place to climb, as they needed the most direct path to Bo, they reached the top. The group now looked more confused than ever as they were led deeper into the ruins, the two Elven horses following them. Finally, they were in front of Bo's hiding place, and they all looked openly shocked at the state of the boy, and also at the fact that a normal person was there, too.

Strider immediately dragged Bo into the open, being as careful as possible, and then gave each of the tiny men orders, such as, "Go and get water!" "Start a fire!" "Quit poking him!" and "Yes, there are two Elves in our camp, Sam!" at which Sam fainted. Again.

Lily just sat silently by, as Strider was hesitant to give her orders. Apparently, Elves weren't exactly easy to work with… either that, or nobody liked to boss them around. Scorpius, however, couldn't stand to sit still, and practically begged Strider to let him do something. Even after that, he simply had to mop blood off of Bo's injuries. After the moon had started to sink back to the ground, the odd group had completely cleaned and bandaged Bo, and since Lily was there, they refrained from dunking the boy in the stream nearby to clean off the blood and dust. Now, they were all staring at the boy in amazement, as he didn't look exactly normal, even for an Elf. His hair reached down to his shoulders, and was still a distinct midnight-blue. He was paler than he'd been on Earth, and his injuries stood out in sharp relief. His eyes were tilted slightly, and during the few seconds that they'd been open, the group had seen that they had turned amber. Strider, Merry, Pippin, Frodo and Sam only knew that his eyes had previously been blue because of Lily's gasp.

"He looks so weird up close!" Scorpius said out loud. The four mini-men nodded and murmured in agreement. Suddenly, Strider turned to Lily.

"What is your name?" he asked, "And what are those of your companions?"

"Uh… They're Bo and Scorpius – Bo's the guy with the blue hair, and Scorpius's Blondie – and I'm… I'm… which of my names do you want?"

"The one you've been called all your life?" Strider suggested.

"Then Lily." Lily stated firmly.

"You hesitated!" Scorpius called out. Lily shot him a glare before turning back to Strider, who looked faintly amused.

"You did hesitate slightly," he chuckled, "and as far as I know, no Elves are named Lily!"

Lily deflated slightly before coming up with an answer. "You'll find out my true name in due time!" Strider looked a bit disappointed as he walked to the fire the tiny men were huddled around, Bo lying motionless on a pile of blankets nearby.

Suddenly, a terrible screech rent the air. Scorpius jerked awake, as he'd started to drift off, and Strider and the odd little men huddled into a small group around the fire, weapons drawn. Bo groaned weakly and Lily hurried to his side. The two horse-phoenixes started galloping in wide circles around the camp, and an enormous black stallion rocketed into sight, careening into Lily's gray-and-chestnut stallion. Bo's blue roan mare let out a shrieking neigh and jetted away towards the woods behind the ruin-covered hill while Lily's horse struggled to regain his feet.

"What are they?" Lily breathed in shock as four of the most dementor-like non-dementors she'd ever seen drifted out of the shadows.

Everyone jumped in shock as the answer came from Bo, in a rough, scratchy voice. "Wraiths…"


	7. A Confused Guide

**Sorry, sorry, sorry! This is a really short chapter, but I plan to write longer ones in the future. I'm actually a bit disappointed with this one.**

**Oh, and since my memory stinks, this disclaimer goes for the rest of the story: I. Own. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Well, except for the Ocs and the plot. **

**Please review!**

Chapter Six: A Confused Guide

Lily drew her wand in a flash. Only, it wasn't her wand… it was a sword. _How many things are going to turn into something completely different here?!_ She thought, bewildered by the change in her weapon, _I don't even know how to fight with this!_

Her arms flew up of their own accord as a wraith charged at her, having realized that she was young and detached from the group. There was a clang and a flash of sparks as the wraith's sword was deflected, and then another and another as Lily swung wildly at the wraith, which was so dumbfounded at being fought by a young girl that it could barely keep up its guard and appeared to be fighting for its life.

Scorpius, however, was having a much more serious problem. Having brought no transfiguring possessions, he was weaponless… almost. At the last second he whipped out his wand and pointed it at the wraith that seemed to be enjoying stabbing the ground around the thirteen-year-old Slytherin.

"_Bombarda!"_ he roared, and the wraith flew through the air. It sailed out of sight but, unfortunately, didn't die. Scorpius thought that he'd done his job very nicely – until the now infuriated wraith sprinted out of nowhere and tackled the poor Malfoy like they were playing football.

Bo just laid there, eyes closed against the fight. He grunted in pain (he had plenty to go around at the moment) as one of the tiny men tripped over him. Swords clanged as Lily and Strider attacked the wraiths, occasionally split by a burst of light when Scorpius failed to evade the "Bombarda-Wraith", which was now angry beyond belief and screeched repeatedly. These bursts of light were the worst, not because they hurt Bo's eyes, but because they reminded him of why he was hurt in the first place.

_Flashback –_

_The old wizard – Gandalf – kept a steady pace all day. He had insisted on bringing Bo to the Elves of Imladris, as Bo looked like an Elf himself, but they were still a long way away, and something was pursuing them. Bo's phoenix – which had turned into a blue roan upon his arrival in this world – trotted beside Gandalf's own white horse, jostling Bo, who had never ridden a horse before._

_The odd group had just reached the top of Amun Sul, as Gandalf called it, when Bo felt that he couldn't go on any longer without a rest, and slipped from his horse's back and landed with a clearly audible thud on the hard-packed ground. He was out like a light in seconds, before Gandalf had even realized that he had dismounted. When the wizard did notice, however, he dismounted his own horse and walked back to Bo._

"_Up!" he commanded, "We have only this night and one more if we continue on!"_

"_Five more minutes…" Bo sighed, curling up on the stones he'd chosen as his bed._

"_You have five __**seconds**__ to find your feet before I light them on fire, Elfling or not!" Of course, Gandalf was lying, but Bo didn't know that. He leapt to his feet and was back on his horse before Gandalf could say "three"._

"_Let's get this show on the road!" he cried._

"_Talk normally!" Gandalf snapped, though he was really very amused, "I can't understand you when you use those odd sayings!"_

"_Fine," Bo grumbled, "let us get this odd little group on the trail to Imladris! See, that just takes the fun out of everything!"_

_Gandalf was about to reply when a screech filled the air. All was silent for a moment, and then another screech answered, farther off but closing in. _

"_Ride! Make for Imladris!" Gandalf cried, drawing his sword as he gestured for Bo to leave. The Traveler, who had no idea what was happening, complied, and then he was racing away down the other side of Amun Sul like a rocket. He pulled on his horse's reins as a bright flash split the night, and then another. He wheeled the mare around and galloped, against his better judgment, to what he now knew to be a magical battle. He had just emerged when he felt the hilt of a sword, or something like it, slam into the back of his head. He fell off of his horse and rolled under an overhanging rock, and Gandalf, who was in a great hurry to catch up with Bo, who he thought to be long gone, rode away without a backward glance, leaving the Elfling to lay on Weathertop until someone found him…_

_End Flashback –_

Bo's eyes snapped open as Strider dove towards the campfire, snatching up a burning branch and brandishing it at the two wraiths he'd been fighting. Lily copied him, except that she looked like she was playing a bizarre game of baseball, swinging at the wraith's head repeatedly. Scorpius was sending jets of flame at the wraith chasing him, and seemed to have gone mad, as he was screaming, "I surrender!" at the top of his lungs.

Suddenly, a scream filled the air. Bo's eyes snapped towards the sound, and he saw Frodo appear out of thin air, a wraith standing over him. With the little bit of strength he could spare, Bo lurched to his feet and careened into the wraith that had stabbed Frodo. It let out a screech of fury and slashed its sword across Bo's arm, leaving a cut that looked as if it were already infected, little veins of black and red spreading out from it.

Strider turned away from the last wraith he'd chased off – he'd felt almost sorry for the creature, as Lily had previously beaten it silly, not allowing it to escape – and saw exactly what he had feared and more. Frodo was strewn out on the ground, blood running from a wound in his shoulder, and the blue-haired Elfling (Bo, he supposed) leaning heavily on a wall, a long, jagged cut on one of his forearms.

If it had just been Frodo, Strider wouldn't have been so panicked. The hobbit was strong. He could hold out against the enchantment on the morgul blade until they got to Rivendell. But Bo… he was already injured, and he could fall victim to it at any time. Strider crossed the hilltop and scooped up the Elfling as he called out to Sam.

"Get Frodo on the pony from Bree!" he ordered, and the hobbit scrambled to obey. Strider just stood there, looking around as he held Bo, and then the blue roan rushed out of the woods and stopped in front of him, sniffing the Elfling worriedly. Strider slowly dropped Bo onto the mare's back, and wound the child's hands into the two long ropes that served as reins.

"Lily!" he called across the hilltop. The young blond Elfling looked up from checking her horse for injuries. "Can you guide us to Rivendell?"

"Uh… sure!" she replied. Strider thought that she had looked confused for a moment, but quickly shook it off. What Elf, even a young one, didn't know where Rivendell was?

In the blink of an eye, Lily was off, Scorpius following her closely, the hobbits in a long line behind the boy, Sam leading Bill the pony and Frodo at the back, and the chestnut stallion behind them. Strider took off after them, quickly claiming his place at the back of the expanded group.

It didn't take long for Strider to notice that Lily often doubled back or turned the wrong way and didn't realize it. She had actually started back towards Bree when Pippin corrected her and they were headed back in the general direction of the Elven settlement.

They continued on like this for the rest of the day: move forward, halt, turn, correct the "guide", turn, and move forward. Strider was starting to lose his patience by the time they stopped to make camp. They had veered away from Rivendell throughout the day, although they had crossed a bridge that had a green stone on it. He could only hope that the Elves somehow knew they were coming, and had sent search parties out.

"Um…" Lily said the next morning as they set out, "Which direction were we headed in, again?"

"That way!" all conscious members of the group, not including the two horses and Bill the pony, chorused. Frodo managed to sit up – he appeared to be staving off the morgul blade's enchantment, but it would overcome him eventually, if they didn't reach Rivendell in time – and let out a weak sound, something a bit like, "Thewa!"

Bo, however, was not faring so well. He was still slumped on his horse's back, hardly making any noise at all as they traveled, and growing paler all the while. He was the group's main concern, as he was likely to be effected more quickly than Frodo.

Lily nodded and walked away, the rest of the group reluctantly following behind her. At least she seemed more confident this time… maybe she had finally gotten her bearings… _or not!_ Strider groaned in his head as Lily plopped down on a rock with a sigh.

"I'll admit it. I'm lost." She said quietly, as if ashamed of her inability to lead them to Rivendell.

Strider had expected to be angry when the Elfling finally admitted this, but something about the little girl held him back. She looked so utterly lost and sad, but that wasn't all… she looked_ familiar._ After a moment, the Ranger pulled the girl to her feet and then took off.

"Follow me," he called over his shoulder, "We have veered east of Rivendell, and are still a long way from the Ford." The rest of the group, each relieved for different reasons, followed him.

Near the end of the day, they were nearly back on track, but then something altogether unexpected happened.

They had just settled down for the night, as Bo was half-conscious and beginning to moan about saddle sores and abandoning his seat on the horse's back, when hooves were heard, following the path they'd taken all day. The group had stayed completely still, as they were very nearly hidden on the side of the trail, until Strider had suddenly grinned and stood up.

"Glorfindel, _mae govannen!"_

A white horse had appeared in front of their hiding place, the man… no, no, _Elf_, seated on its back looking so much like Lily that it wasn't even funny. Lily herself was staring at the Elf, mouthing "Glorfindel" over and over again, while she thought, _Glorwen and Glorfindel? Is that just a coincidence, or… oh… my… gosh._

Lily nearly screamed as she noticed that she was on her feet and moving towards the Elf. Strider was looking rapidly between the two, shock growing on his face with each glance. Glorfindel looked like someone had just hit him over the head, _hard._ His mouth opened and closed as if he were trying to speak. Finally, a single word escaped him. "Glorwen..?" it sounded like he was afraid to hope that the name really belonged to the girl in front of him. Lily didn't know she was planning to reply until she was already speaking.

"That's me!" she squeaked, so nervous that she kept talking, introducing each member of the group. "Merry, Pippin, Sam, Frodo, Scorpius, Bo, and Bill the pony!" then another thought replaced the first. "Should I know you?"


	8. Chapter 8: Lost and Found

**Okay, so, in this chapter, Lily starts referring to herself as "Glorwen" whenever she does something like she did when she lived in Middle Earth and "Lily" whenever she acts like she does in the world she grew up in. I apologize for the spelling mistakes in the previous chapters – I only noticed them when I got a chance to read the story over in school, and my mom (the same one that never tells me anything but "your story's good") never pointed them out. Also, thanks to for being the first to review this story!**

Chapter Seven: Lost and Found

Glorfindel couldn't believe his eyes. His daughter, who'd been lost for nearly an age, was standing in front of him, among hobbits and men. She looked just as shocked as he felt, eyes wide and each step towards him extremely tiny. It made him think of the first time he'd seen her…

_Flashback-_

_Glorfindel had been traveling at the beginning of the Third Age when it had happened. His horse had seemed wary of something, and with good reason – as they had crossed a river a couple of miles back, they had caught sight of a Warg pack, sniffing across the grass before their chief howled and sent them running east. Now he chased them, wondering why they were ranging so far from their territory._

_Suddenly, snarls ripped into existence ahead of him. Fearing the worst – that some wanderer had been caught unaware – Glorfindel urged his horse to a gallop. He burst into a small space between the trees, and then bowed his head in grief: he was too late. A tall, blond woman lay on the forest floor, barely recognizable as a once-living being, she was so mangled. The Wargs were snuffling around the area, and then their chief appeared, sniffing at a small bundle. It nosed aside the blankets wrapped around the tiny shape, and a very human scream rent the air._

_That did it. They may have killed the woman, but they would not, would__** not**__, kill a child. Glorfindel drew his daggers and attacked. One of the Wargs snapped at him, but it was dead in a moment. Another tried to jump on top of him, but it met the same fate as the previous wolf. After that, the remainders of the pack fled. Their numbers were not so great in those days that they dared to fight an angry Elf._

_Glorfindel stooped down next to the dead woman. She looked to be in her mid-twenties, wearing a bloodstained blue dress with a shredded, darker blue cloak. After that, it only took a minute to recognize her. One of the Blue Wizards that had gone to explore the east. Her staff lay splintered a few feet away, the sapphire on the top of it glowing feebly before winking out._

_Now blinking back tears at the death of an Istar, Glorfindel turned to the child the Wargs had sniffed out. A pair of soft brown eyes peered back at him, full of fear. He felt his heart melt at the sight, and held out one hand, still sitting on the ground beside the dead woman._

_The child clambered out of her blankets – for it was indeed a small girl, a girl wearing a soft blue dress the color of a clear sky, her blond hair pulled back in a braid with one little strand hanging loose. She tottered forward, swaying slightly; it appeared that she hadn't walked in quite a while, although she clearly knew how to._

"_Come here, child," Glorfindel said softly. The girl looked less hesitant, but still nervous. She lurched forward and tripped over a rock, falling headlong into Glorfindel's arms. She yelped and stumbled backwards, tripping on the same rock as before, only this time, no one caught her and she hit her head on yet another rock._

_Glorfindel pulled the girl to her feet and brushed back her hair, intending to see if she was injured, but stopped in his tracks. She had pointed ears. Her father, whoever he was, had been an Elf. He made up his mind right then and there; the child would grow up safe and sound with him in Rivendell._

_End Flashback-_

Now the girl stood in front of him. He could still remember when Saruman had discovered her existence, and had attempted to take her to Isengard to be trained as a wizard. Not one of the Elves had made a move against him… at least, not one that was noticed by others. Several Elflings – including Arwen, Elladan, and Elrohir – that had taken a liking to the Elf/Istar child had distracted Saruman, while Glorfindel had Traveled _**(A/N: Yes, Glorfindel is a Traveler)**_ to another world, where he had told his clever story of the war, and how he wanted his daughter to grow up without a threat at every turn. In reality, he had desperately wanted to keep Glorwen away from Saruman, who would undoubtedly have kept her away on missions all the time. He was pulled from his memories by Aragorn's voice.

"Does this mean that the stories from Rivendell are true? You really did adopt an Istar?"

Glorfindel nodded, the knowledge that his daughter was back still sinking in. Once it had settled, he was moving before he could think of what to say next. He hugged Glorwen and refused to let go until he heard something that sounded like, "Can't breathe!"

He backed away, holding Glorwen out at arm's length and examining her. She looked so much older than the child he'd found nearly an age ago, but the look in her eyes was younger. She must not have remembered the days before she'd been handed off to the Potters.

"Again, _should I know you?_" Glorwen repeated.

"Yes…" Glorfindel replied, beginning to wonder if Glorwen had any of her memories left, "You should know me Glorwen… you _do_ know me… don't you remember?"

Glorwen blinked slowly, looking at the ground, and then back at Glorfindel. "…No… I'm sorry, but no."

Lily, who still wasn't used to being addressed as Glorwen, watched the Elf – Glorfindel – carefully. It seemed as if she had broken his heart with that one little word. Suddenly, she was swept up in a memory.

_She watched the scene unfold. It was hazy here and there, but, for the most part, untouched. A younger version of her true self – the Glorwen part, she told herself – was standing hesitantly in the door of a wide room. "Wh-what did I say?" she asked, voice trembling._

_Glorfindel slowly came into view, one of the more hazy patches concealing him until then. "Nothing, tithen pen," he assured Glorwen with a soft smile, although he did seem rather sad._

"_I did something, though!" Glorwen protested. Lily nearly backed away when she saw a very familiar expression spreading across the little girl's face. She'd seen that look on James's face just before he did something strictly against the rules._

_Glorwen walked into the room boldly, hands coming up in front of her. She focused on them, her soft brown gaze hardening, making her look much older than she was. A soft blue glow started to emerge between her hands, expanding and mixing with soft colors, like green and purple. Finally, when the ball of light was as big as her head, Glorwen released it, and it turned into a ball, though not rubber, like those on Earth. "Play!" she giggled._

_Glorfindel sighed. "Not now, Glorwen." He was greeted with another ball thrown at him, along with the first, which Glorwen had kept. "Rephrase," Glorwen said, starting to form another ball in her hands, "play. Now!"_

_Glorfindel smiled this time, and got up. "How you always manage to cheer me up is a mystery."_

Lily jolted back into the present… and by _jolted,_ I mean that she jumped about a foot in the air, making her companions back up rapidly, as they had all come closer when her eyes unfocused. Now her hands moved by instinct, forming a bright ball of light that glowed the same shade of blue, except shot through with gold, now, and tossed it at Glorfindel. He barely managed to catch it, and then looked at Lily in bewilderment.

"_Now_ I remember." Glorwen said.

**I know, short chapter. I got writer's block right there at the end, and it's not likely I'll be updating for a while, since my Microsoft Word subscription expires on April fifth. And if anyone has ideas for how I should start the eight chapter, I'd like to hear them. A few suggestions to read through is better than sitting around with writer's block, waiting for inspiration to hit me in the head like a bag of bricks.**


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